Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1887-10-22

Hend, walled the Wfetcned woman, wr7DSlng
her hands.
u assure you you are mistaken 10th can
and will. l have gone too far to turn back
for the sake of one old Englishman. Listen,
Bessie. Your lover Mel is dead, that you
know"
Here jess behind the wall felt inclined to
,ry out ut Is a lie!r but, remembering the
absolute necessity of silence, checked herself.
"And, what is more," went OH Muller,
"your sister jess is dead too; she died two
days ago."
.'Jess dead! Jess deadl 1t Is not true.
How do You know that she is deadg'
Never mind; will tell YOU whearwe dfv
married. She is dead, and except for your
uncle you are alone in the world. If You per-
sist in this hc will soon be dead too and his
blood will be upon your head, for you will
have murdered him"
"And II were to say yes, how would that
help himr she cried, wildly "He is con-
demned by your court martial--you would
only deceive me and murder him after ALL"
"On my honor no. Before the marriage I
will give this warrant to the pastor, and he
shall burn it as soon as the service is said
But, Bessie, don't you see that those fools who
tried your uncle are only like clay in my
and whatever the song sing they will echo
it, They do not wish to shoot your uncle.
and will be glad, indeed, to get out of it.
Your uncle shall go in safety to Natal, or
stay here il he wills. His property shall be
secured for him, and compensation paid for
the burning of his house. 1 swear it before
God"
She looked up at him, and he could see that
she was inclined to believe him.
"It is true, Bessie, it is true--I will rebuild
the place myself, and if / can find the man
who fired it he shall be shot. Come listen to
me, and be reasonable. The man you loved
is dead, and no amount of sighing can bring
him to your arms. l alone am left, who
love you better than life, better than man
ever loved a woman before. Look at me, am
1 not proper man for any maid to wed,
though l be balf Boer? And have the
brains too, Bessie, the brains that shall make
us both great We were made for each other
Il have known it for years, and slowly,
slowly, have worked my way to you till at
last you are in my reach" and he stretched
out both his arms toward her.
"My darling" he went on, in a soft, half
dreamy voice, "my love and my desire, yield,
upon me- 1 want to grow good for your sake,
and have done with bloodshed. When you
are my wife believe that the evil will go
out of me, and shall grow good. Yield, and
nexsz sazail woman sa@sc-iea szch-u nusp8nf1
as will be to you. I will make your life
soft and beautiful to you as women love life
to be. You shall have everything that money
can buy and power bring. Yield for your
uncle'S sake, and for the sake of the great
love bear you"
As he spoke he was slowly drawing nearer
Bessie, whose face wore half fascinated ex-
preston. As he came the wretched woman
gathered herself together and put out her
hand to repulse him. mo. no" she cried, II
hate you'll cannot be false to him, living or
dead shall kill myself know l shall"
He made no answer, but simply came
always nearer, till at last his strong arms
closed round her shrinking form and drew
her to him as easily as though she were q
babe And then all at once she seemed to
yield. That embrace was the outward sign
of his cruel mastery, and she struggled no
more, mentally or physically.
"Will you marry ME, darling-will you
marry mer' he whispered, with his lips SO
close to the golden curls that Jess, straining
her ears outside, could only just catch the
words:
"Oh, suppose so; but shall die-it will
kill me-"
He strained her to his heart and kissed her
beautiful face again and again, and next mo-
ment jess heard the footsteps of the return
ing sentry and saw him leave 20 of her.
Jantje, too, caught her by the hand and
dragged her away from the wall, and in ten
seconds more SIZE was once more ascending
the hillside toward the Hottentot's kennel.
She had gone to find out how matters lay,
and she had, indeed, found out. To attempt
to portray the fury, the indignation and the
thirst to be avenged upon the fiend who had
attempted to murder her and her lover, and
had bought her dear sisters honor at the
price of her innocent old uncle's life, would
be impossible. All her WEAKNESS was forgot
ten; she was mad with what she had seen and
heard, with the knowledge of what had been
done and what was about to be done. She
even forget her passion in it, and swore that
Muller should never marry Bessie while she
lived to prevent it. Had she been bad
woman she might have seen herein an oppor-
tunity, for Bessie once married to Muller,
John would be free to marry her, but the
idea never even entered her mind. What
ever Jess errors may have been, she was q
self sacrificing, honorable woman, and would
have died rather than take such an advan
tage Presently they reached the shelter
again and crept in.
"Light a CANDLE" said jess.
Jantje fumbled about and finally struck {
match. The bit of candle they had beer
using, however, was nearly burned out, 81
from the rubbish in the corner he produced |
box full of "ends," some of them three o.
four inches long. jess, in that queer sort o
way in which trifles do strike us when tn
mind is undergoing a severe strain, instantl.
remembered that for years she had been un
able to discover what became Of the od'
pieces of the candles used in the house. Nov
the mystery was explained.
| "Now go outside and leave me. want t
think"
The Hottentot obeyed, and, seated ther
upon the heap of skins, her forehead restin
on her hand and her fingers run through he
silky hair, now wet with the rain, she bega
to review the position. 1t was evident to he
that Frank Muller would be- as good as hi
word. She knew him too well to doubt it fo
moment. If Bessie did not marry him b
would murder the old man, as he had tried
! xnuy.slar har and .Inhn oulv this tiyOa ind